1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a transparent pocket for mounting display items such as, for example, photographs in an album and a method for manufacturing same and, more particularly, to such a transparent mounting pocket which can, at first, be releasably mounted on an album page but which will, after a period of time, become permanently bonded to that page. The invention further comprises a photo album adapted to utilize these transparent pockets for mounting photographs therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, display items such as, for example, photographs, have been mounted in albums in a variety of different ways. For example, early photo albums simply comprised a bound book of relatively stiff pages to which photographs were pasted or otherwise affixed in an unprotected state. It was discovered, however, that when photographs were merely pasted or glued into such albums, they often deteriorated because of prolonged exposure to the atmosphere. Moreover, these photographs could soon become distorted and possibly crack due to the hardening of the paste or glue used to affix them to the page.
More recent types of photo albums employ an overlay sheet of a transparent plastic film which serves to not only secure the photographs to the underlying album page but, in addition, protects the photographs from deterioration since it protects them from constant exposure to the atmosphere. An example of such a photo album is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,943 which issued on April 26, 1977 for Photographic Album Page and Method of Making Same. It will be appreciated, however, that photo albums of this type fail to fully protect the photographs from the surrounding atmosphere since a complete atmospheric seal is not provided around the photographs.
Other types of photo albums which are commonly used are bound volumes of multiple transparent envelopes or pockets into which individual photographs may be inserted. There is no flexibility for the re-orientation of the photographs in such albums once the photographs are placed in the pocket nor are these albums able to accommodate photographs of different sizes and shapes.
The present invention contemplates a photo album which utilizes a plurality of transparent pockets into which individual photographs may be inserted. The pockets are adhesively mounted onto the pages of the photo album using an adhesive material which is contained on the back or lower surface of the pocket. The adhesive material used to mount these pockets on the album pages is, at first, releasable; however, after a period of time, such adhesive material will form a permanent bond between the transparent pocket and the album page. The use of such an adhesive material permits the user, after a period of time, to be able to reposition the pockets on the album page to insure proper or desired orientation and location relative to other photographs on the page. After the period of time, however, the adhesive bond strength increases, thereby permanently bonding the pocket to the album page. The ability to effect a permanent bond between the photograph containing pocket and the album page is particularly important to prevent loss of any photograph mounted in such fashion.
It has been found, in particular, that when a thermoplastic, pressure sensitive, adhesive is used for both forming the pocket and for adhering the pocket to an album page, substantial advantages are achieved. Such an adhesive has a substantially higher bond strength to the transparent film than other adhesives. Also, such an adhesive can be applied in much thinner, more uniform coatings than other adhesives. Since the coating is very thin and uniform, it has a high resistance to shearing stresses. This resistance to shear creates a high strength bond in the film to film adhesive used in forming the pocket.
Attempts have been made in the past to provide transparent pockets for use in mounting display items on album pages or the like. Examples of such attempts include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,152,881 which issued on April 4, 1939 to Albert W. Engel for Transparent Mounting Device; U.S. Pat. No. 2,611,369, which issued to Robert E. Herrick on Sept. 23, 1952 for Album Photo Holder or Mounting; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,252, which issued to Marston Chase on July 8, 1975 for an Adhesive Picture Mount.
All of the above described transparent pockets lack the simplicity of construction of the present transparent pocket which permits manufacture in commercial quantities at a reasonable price. More importantly, none of these prior art pockets could be, for an initial period of time, repeatedly repositioned in the album and, then, become permanently bonded to the album page after a longer period.